Within the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), more than 200 000 servicemembers experience hearing impairment, and nearly 500 000 Veterans receive compensation for service-connected hearing loss. To protect personnel, DOD Instruction 6055.12 mandates that hearing conservation programs provide hearing protector fit testing (HPFT) for all personnel exposed to noise levels at or above a time-weighted average of 95 dBA over 8 h. HPFT is typically one-on-one: an individual dons their hearing protection, completes a fit test, and receives a personal attenuation rating (PAR). If their fit does not meet the required PAR, the test administrator assists with improving their fit. To expand capacity, our team implemented multi-person HPFT. Providing one-on-one assistance to those who do not achieve adequate attenuation on their initial test, however, can create bottlenecks, limiting throughput. To address this, we developed in-app self-guided education and instructions. The education and instructions enable individuals to independently improve their fit, freeing administrators to focus on those who truly require additional help. We describe the design of this in-app education. We also present results from a triple-blind human study that showed those who received the in-app re-instructions improved their PAR by more than + 8 dB compared to a control group.
Russell et al. (Wed,) studied this question.